Search results for ""recoil""

This book, based on a conference organised by The Friends of Mr Biswas, explores the writing careers of Seepersad Naipaul and his two sons, Vidia and Shiva, within the sustenance and sometimes pain of family connections -- synergies that V.S. Naipaul laboured to conceal, as the publishing histories of his father’s collection of short stories and Letters between a Father and Son both show. Essays by Brinsley Samaroo and Aaron Eastley focus on Seepersad Naipaul’s importance as a journalist who opened up what was hidden in Trinidadian society, who boldly creolised reporting styles and offered his sons an example of the possibilities of combining fiction and non-fiction. Arnold Rampersad, in his moving essay on his journalist father, Jerome, further makes the case for seeing a tradition of Trinidadian newspaper writing that achieves literary quality. Not only is the father given long-overdue attention, but so too is the work of Shiva Naipaul, exploring the same family territory in his deservedly classic novel, Fireflies.Essays find new things to say about V.S. Naipaul: Andre Bagoo writes on his fascination with gay sexuality and cinema (another essay deals with the themes of sadomasochism and incest), Hywel Dix advances the idea of “lateness”, in an insightful reading of Magic Seeds, whilst other essays focus on issues of race, gender and globalisation in the Naipauls’ work. Kevin Frank, for instance, explores the contrast between the father’s engagement with Creole society, and his sons’ recoil, and Elizabeth Jackson and Paula Morgan write respectively on masculinity and motherhood in the Naipauls’ work.Seepersad and Sons is highly readable because contributors to this book have followed the example and urging of the keynote speaker, Professor Kenneth Ramchand, to address readers beyond an academic circle, and convey the importance of the Naipauls and their literary heritage to the wider society. Literary contributions from Sharon Millar, Raymond Ramcharitar and Keith Jardim make connections with the Naipaulian legacy that show just how alive it is. Robert Clarke provides a visual dimension to the book in a photo essay on the St James district of Port of Spain and J. Vijay Maharaj writes on the complementary art of Shastri Maharaj.Contributors include: Kenneth Ramchand, Vijay Maharaj, Bhoendradatt Tewarie, Nicholas Laughlin, Aaron Eastley, Brinsley Samaroo, Arnold Rampersad, Robert Clarke, Andre Bagoo, Sharon Millar, Keith Jardim, Raymond Ramcharitar, Kevin Frank, Jim Hanna, Hywel Dix, Elizabeth Jackson, Paula Morgan, Fariza Mohammed, Meghan Cleghorn, Varistha Persad and Nivedita Misra.

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Physics has the reputation of being difficult to understand and remote from everyday life. Robert Ehrlich, however, has spent much of his career disproving these stereotypes. In the long-awaited sequel to Turning the World Inside Out and 175 Other Simple Physics Demonstrations, he provides a new collection of physics demonstrations and experiments that prove that physics can, in fact, be "made simple." Intentionally using "low tech" and inexpensive materials from everyday life, Why Toast Lands Jelly-Side Down makes key principles of physics surprisingly easy to understand. After laying out the basic principles of what constitutes a successful demonstration, Ehrlich provides more than 100 examples. Some of the more intriguing include: Terminal Velocity of Falling Coffee Filters; Spinning a Penny; Dropping Two Rolls of Toilet Paper; Avalanches in a Sand Pile; When to Add the Cream to Your Coffee; Deep Knee Bends on a Bathroom Scale; Recoil Force on a Bent Straw; Swinging Your Arms While Walking; Estimating the Net Force on a Moving Book; and, of course, Why Toast Lands Jelly-Side Down. The book begins with a practical introduction on how to design physics demonstrations. The benefits of designing one's own "demos" are numerous, but primary among them is an increased understanding of basic physics. For many people who teach the principles of physics, demonstrations seem dauntingly complex, filled with hard-to-find equipment and too many possibilities for failure. The demonstrations described in this book are exactly the opposite. Ehrlich describes them with characteristic candor: "You can fit many of them in your pocket, bring them to your class without any set-up required, and best of all, you need not fear that your demo will more likely illustrate Murphy's laws rather than Newton's." For anyone with even the slightest interest in physics, Why Toast Lands Jelly-Side Down is filled with learning opportunities. For everyone who is studying physics or teaching the subject at any level, from amateur scientists to professional teachers, it is an essential resource.

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Persistence of Vision is speculative fiction about how social media, big data, and artificial intelligence affect our relationships with one another and with ourselves. Its central question is whether we can still make our own choices when we can no longer keep our lives private, or our thoughts secret. Jane can’t have secrets. As the leading online influencer, each fraction of her life is streamed for all to watch. Social media hears what she mumbles as she sleeps; sees her recoil in unexplained fear of deep water; leers over the sponsor’s logo tattooed between her shoulders. Everyone watches everyone, downvoting undesirables, exposing seditious thoughts, while endless advertising distracts them from the dust storms of their dying world. Private police watch over them with surveillance so complete that they can predict crimes before they occur. But Jane recalls a different world, where her thoughts could be private and choices could be her own. She plans to wield her influence to make this the future. On the largest marketing holiday of the year, she’ll strike. All she needs is to keep her plans secret. When Jane publicly spoils a fashion show for all social media to see, the show’s organizer, Ray, vows to have her fired. He feels guilty for discovering a marketing technique that, while increasing sales, also manipulated shoppers to become fatally aggressive. Now, Ray just wants to accumulate enough social credit to leave the country, and his guilt, behind. The last thing the jaded marketer needs is for Jane to disrupt those plans and, worse, to then entrust him with dangerous contraband: a secret. As Jane takes Ray from the gleaming towers of their ever-surveilled dystopia to the mysteries of the forbidden Red Zone, she draws him deeper into her secrets. They embark on her daring plan, risking summary and lethal punishment by the private police, as they struggle to keep rebellious thoughts undetected and old identities hidden. But when everything is watched, can she keep her secrets? Can he?

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**LONGLISTED for the CWA John Creasey NEW BLOOD Dagger** **LoveReading BOOK of the MONTH** ‘Gloriously funny but dark as hell, you will laugh and recoil in equal measure’ Sunday Express ‘By turns comic and shocking, an extraordinary debut from a striking new voice’ Michael Marshall Smith ‘Complex, inventive and a genuine shocker, this is the very opposite of a comfort read' Guardian ____________________ Jerry has a traumatic past that leaves him subject to psychotic hallucinations and depressive episodes. When he stands accused of stealing a priceless Van Gogh painting, he goes underground, where he develops an unwilling relationship with a woman who believes that the voices she hears are from God. Involuntarily entangled in the illicit world of sex-trafficking amongst the Hollywood elite, and on a mission to find redemption for a haunting series of events from the past, Jerry is thrust into a genuinely shocking and outrageously funny quest to uncover the truth and atone for historical sins. A complex, page-turning psychological thriller, riddled with twists and turns, Epiphany Jones is also a superb dark comedy with a powerful emotional core. You'll laugh when you know you shouldn't, be moved when you least expect it and, most importantly, never look at Hollywood, celebrity or sex in the same way again. This is an extraordinary debut from a fresh, exceptional new talent. ____________________ ‘One of the 25 Most Irresistible Hollywood Novels’ Entertainment Weekly ‘Engrossing ... a captivating story that manages to be funny, sinister and surprising’ New York Daily News ‘A thrilling and highly original debut that cuts to the dark heart of celebrity and pornography. Michael Grothaus is one to watch’ Eva Dolan ‘Startling, inventive, funny and disturbing, compelling and oddly beautiful – Epiphany Jones is a novel that marks the arrival of a truly talented writer’ Kevin Wignall ‘A scabrously funny and thrillingly original book about atoning for past sins and indiscretions’ David F. Ross ‘The emotional range is astounding – Grothaus is an exceptional talent’ J M Hewitt ‘A truly impressive debut by a London-based American journalist who has investigated both Hollywood and the sex trade and uses his research to best effect in a twisting tale at the same time realistically gripping and sardonic … Grothaus writes with a delicate fluency that contrasts with the depravity of his subject matter. Humour and emotions: what more could you ask for in a thriller?’ Maxim Jakubowski, LoveReading ‘A real seat-of-the-pants read, and utterly uncompromising. It’s graphic, visceral, mordantly funny, thought-provoking and at times profoundly moving. It’s not for all, but it was certainly all for this one. I absolutely loved it’ Raven Crime Reads

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